Living on the Flotilla, and other things a human should avoid
by N7 Pringles
Summary: A young man wakes up on a medical ship on the Flotilla, with no memory of how or why he's there. Shunned and distrusted by the rest of the Quarians, only two are on his side; the doctor taking care of him, and the young woman who found him.
1. Chapter 1

The pumps hissed and beeped, and the clear white room felt, and looked cold. The hair on my arm stood up as I slowly opened my eyes. The room was empty, but it was obviously a medical room. A small panic took over me, and I frantically looked around and sat up. The machines started to beep louder and I heard commotion outside. Obviously it wasn't a human hospital, and the humming and slight crackling indicated I was on a ship. I started to panic more as I noticed I was cuffed to the bed with leather straps. I started pulling and yanking the straps, trying to free myself.

The door to the room opened, a masked figure standing in the doorway, wearing a white coat. "Hey hey hey, calm down, everything is alright" the figure spoke in a thick accent behind its mask. "You're safe, no need to worry"

"What the hell is going on?!" I asked, yanking the straps again. Why the hell was I on the Flotilla. The Quarian woman walked to me, laying her hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me down on the bed again. "Calm down, I'm sure you have a lot of questions"

"Yeah, like why the hell am I tied to this bed?" I scoffed and yanked my arm against the strap again.

"Exactly because of this. If you calm down I'm more than happy to remove the binds" the woman said.

I relaxed my arm, and the woman looked at me with a slightly tilted head for a moment, before opening the left strap and reaching over to the right one, opening it as well.

"My name is Yeemi'Neram vas Wayya, I'm the head doctor of this ship" she spoke softly. I glanced over her shoulder, seeing a team of Marines at the door.

"So this ship is called Wayya?" I asked, scratching my wrists and sitting up.

The doctor looked at me for a moment before chuckling lightly. "I didn't know humans teach about Quarian culture in the Alliance"

"They don't ma'am, but my parents were diplomats" I smiled sheepishly.

The woman turned to the Marines and waved them off, the team disappearing out the door. "Well maybe you can teach us something about your culture then? Look here" she said and pointed a flashlight into my eyes.

"Like what?" I asked slightly confused.

"Like what an alliance special operations team is doing in Geth space"

"What? Special operations? No no, I'm..." I cut myself off. Cold sweat started to rise to my skin. _I couldn't remember_!

"Yes?" The doctor inquired, looking to me, slight worry in her voice.

I started to panic, my heartbeat rising and the machines beeping faster. "Just calm down, it's okay" she spoke, laying her hand on my leg. "What's wrong?"

"I... I can't remember!" I said in a panicky tone. "I can't remember anything!" I tried and tried but drew a blank, not even my name!

The Quarian looked to me, and then down to her datapad before clicking open her omni-tool. My eyes darted around the room and my heart was beating fast and my mouth was dry.

"Just breath, everything is alright, you'll be fine" the doctor assured, another Quarian walking into the room. They whispered something for a moment before the other one nodded and walked out. "What? What's happening?" I asked, my breathing still fast.

"Do you remember anything from these past days? Anything at all?" She asked, walking around the bed and looking to her datapad. I closed my eyes tight and focused as best as I could. Slowly something started to emerge from the darkness. Echoes or dreams that I didn't completely understand.

 _This mission is a bust, I say ag-_

 _We need to get out!_

 _Water, incoming water! Seal your armor!_

Suddenly a flash of explosion and a crash staggered me and my eyes shot open.

"Did you remember something?" The doctor was next to me quickly, her hand on my shoulder.

"I uh... there was yelling... and water... and... an explosion?"

"That makes sense" a quirkier, younger female voice spoke from the door. "We found you floating on a piece of cargo" she continued.

"Tali'Zorah this isn't the time! Wait outside, I'll get you in a minute" the older woman said sternly.

"Wait wait wait!" I almost squeaked and reached towards her. "Please tell me"

The young Quarian looked at the doctor who nodded after a short moment.

"There isnt much to tell. We picked up a distress signal from your shuttle and when we arrived, you were the only one there, no shuttle no nothing" she said and walked up to the bed. "I'm sorry..."

I looked at her facemask, I think I made an eyecontact with her but couldn't be sure. I slumped down on the bed, feeling numb, and to be honest, scared.

"Don't worry, we'll sort this out won't we" the doctor said warmly and squeezed my arm reassuringly. "Now try and rest, I'll be back in few hours"

I nodded lightly and looked up at the younger Quarian, who was already looking at me. She seemed to look away as soon as I looked to her. "Well I better go too, my father needs to talk with me" she said and turned around, heading for the door.

"Hey" I said when I finally found my voice again.

"Yes?" She said carefully and turned around.

"What was your name again?" I asked sheepishly and looked down to my hands.

"Tali'Zorah. But... you can call me Tali" she said, matching my tone, looking to her hands.

I nodded and smiled nervously as she turned around and left the room, my eyes following her and landing on her backside.

*Snap out of it, she's a Quarian* I slapped myself mentally before closing my eyes.

Commotion from outside the room woke me up from my sleep and I tried to listen. Muffled conversation was heard outside, many speakers, men and women. I recognized the doctor that had taken care of me, and the young Quarian, Tali.

"Father please, just let Yeemi'Neram and me talk to him first, explain things to him" she pleaded.

"Enough Tali! We're going in" the unknown man said and the door opened, Marines pointing their weapons at me. My heart jumped from the sight, my hands shooting up immediately.

"Whoa whoa hey" I tried to speak, probably sounded like squeaking instead.

"Quiet!" One of the soldiers ordered and pressed his pistol to my forehead. I don't know what happened but something inside me ticked.

I grabbed the mans hand, twisting his wrist, my other hand ejecting the thermal clip from his pistol before punching him on the mask and flipping the pistol around and aiming it at the Marines.

I blinked quickly few times as I realized what just happened and hastily dropped the gun, my hands shooting up again.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" I sobbered nervously and looked at the Quarians around me. The doctor and Tali shot between me and the soldiers, who were still aiming at me.

"That is enough admiral! Take your brutes out of here, this is my patient and he's my responsibility!"

"He's a human, who cares what happens to him" one of the Marines protested and bettered his aim.

I had no idea what to do, so I just sat there like an idiot with my hands pointing the roof of the room.

"Father please, let us handle this" Tali bleeded again and stepped in front of a rifle, slightly defiant in her mannerism. Few seconds of dead silence before the man waved the soldiers down.

"You have five minutes Tali, that's all" he said dryly and walked out after the Marines.

"What is happening?" I asked nervously and looked at the women.

"The Admiralty board is having a hearing where they decide your fate. A human on the Flotilla is not a normal, or even welcome occurrence" Tali spoke.

"What Tali is trying to say is that you being here is highly different from out normal life, but I will do all I can to make sure you don't have to leave yet" the older woman quickly jumped in. "I don't think you'll be a problem, will you?"

I just shook my head and nodded. "Absolutely not, but if it's better for you that I leave, then I absolutely will" I said. "I don't want to cause any problems to your or to the fleet, that's the last thing I want"

"Good. I'm sure the Admiralty board will see that" she said reassuringly.

"I just hope my father won't be blinded by his human prejudice..." Tali sighed. "You'd think that after years of discrimination he'd be a bit more understanding"

"You're father, and the rest of the fleet have a right to feel whatever they feel about me" I sighed and tried to move my legs. One of them moved well enough, but the other one didn't. I threw the blanket off and saw a cast up to my right knee. "Great..."

"Your right leg was badly broken when we found you, it was all mangled and stuff" Tali said and shuddered lightly.

"Luckily we were able to fix it, it should be fully healed in a month's time" Yeemi'Neram said warmly.

"Wait, a month?" I asked slightly shocked. "A whole month? I can't be your burden for that long!" I protested.

"Oh you won't" she laughed. "If you're allowed to stay, we'll fit you with a exo skeleton for your leg. It will allow you to walk and such without putting pressure on the bone"

"Uh-huh..." I said and sat up, flinging my legs down from the bed.

"Here, I found a suit that's about your size. It has a breathing mask for you, but it's more to keep your exhaling in check than your inhaling" Tali said and laid an enviro-suit next to me on the bed.

It didn't have the mask like the one that Quarians had, but it was similar to the ones I had seen Asari wear when operating in the vacuum areas of our ship when I was a kid.

With some fighting I got the suit on and clipped on the breathing mask as the Marines came back. They gave me nasty looks, or atleast that's how I felt, and I couldn't really blame them. Here I was a memory sick human invading their home and now even their culture. Cold sweat crept to my spine as they escorted us to the main ship and to the Admiralty board.

At some point I felt Tali's hand take mine, and I gave it a light squeeze, but both of us kept our eyes forward.

The Migrant fleet in its whole being was an impressive feat of ingenuity. Thousands of ships housing millions of Quarians, all connected and like family. It made me miss my childhood days on diplomatic ships. A small smile crept to my lips as I remembered my childhood friends. Little blue Asari girls, Salarian bugbabies as my dad would jokingly call them and babybirds, as in Turian children.

The smile was quickly wiped away with the realization that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything past that. Not my name, not my parents names, not my life...

We arrived into a large hall where a lot of Quarians were waiting and talking. Tali let go of my hand but stayed next to me when Yeemi'Neram went to speak with the admirals before the hearing began.

"Don't worry, we'll be right here the whole time" Tali whispered. I turned to her, actually taking time to look at her. She was about my height, slightly shorter than me but not to any super significant degree, about as tall as most human women. She had a slim figure like most Quarians, but something about her made me feel funny and... better. I started to wonder how I looked and got worried immediately. My hair had to be so dirty and I probably had worse than normal stubble, not to mention everything else. I was built fit but proportioned, not super jacked like the soldiers in my favorite childhood vids. The week I had been out had probably done a deal on my health and I felt complete shit.

Slowly the Quarian mass started to flood into the large open room that was on the otherside of the large wall we were standing in front of. Soon Yeemi'Neram came back, and as the last Quarian civilians had entered the room, she turned to me. "They'll want to hear a solid reasoning for keeping you here, but I believe your medical state should be enough"

"And what if it isn't?" I asked nervously.

"Then they'll send you out on a ship, who knows where it will land"

"But I wont let that happen" Tali quickly said, her hand on mine again. I hadn't even noticed it, and neither had she apparently as she pulled it away as soon as I looked at our hands.

"Okay, lets go"

Soon they called us in and the large doors opened. The room was more of a hall, with Quarians sitting around, each row of benches higher than the previous one. It looked like the Roman colosseums we had seen pictures of in school.

First the admirals and the crowd said a prayer of some sort, and then they started.

"This hearing is to decide your fate, the one who Tali'Zorah found while unauthorised was adventuring in Geth space. First we will need your name" the admiral standing in the highest point in the middle.

Nervousness creeped in again and my hand started to shake, but I squeezed the walking kane I had to stop it. "I don't know" I said, trying to keep my voice strong.

"What he means, is that he doesn't remember. A mild case of amnesia is not surprised after what he went through" Yeemi'Neram said.

The crowd mumbled and someone yelled something before the admirals waved them to calm down.

"If he doesn't remember, how can we be sure he wasn't here to spy on us?" Other admiral asked and the crowd nodded slightly and mumbled again. "We all heard what happened in the infirmary today after all"

"It was a reaction! If the Marines hadn't provoked and attacked him, he would have neve-"

"That's enough Tali, thank you" a third admiral said, apparently he was Tali's father.

This went on few more times, the admirals asking questions and Tali of Yeemi'Neram defending or giving her medical assessment. They started to call me a Quarian name, Neel'Corah. Apparently it meant 'the nameless one', which was pretty fitting


	2. Chapter 2

"This hearing has concluded. The matter of Neel'Corah's innocence will be decided in the next few hours" the admirals said, and the whole room said the prayer again. I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. _God I'm really screwed..._ I thought as Tali and Yeemi'Neram led me out of the room.

The trip back to the hospital room was quiet, no one said anything, no one needed to. I fully trusted that Yeemi'Neram had used all her tricks and pulls to keep me on the ship, but who knows.

The door closed behind us and we were left into the small space between the doors as the pressurizing completed. My room had a different air in it than rest of the ship, and needed to be kept like that. I took of the breathing mask, the cool air of the room filling my lungs as I sat down on the bed, Tali sitting down next to me.

The doctor did her thing, checked bunch on meters and numbers on her pad, my blood pressure and so on.

"You should still lay down, your concussion wasn't a small one, so the more time you spend in bed the better" she said and sat down her datapad. "And I mean sleeping, you look awful" she joked as she left the room.

"Oh wow thanks, that makes me feel a lot better" I laughed after her as she disappeared out of the room.

Tali sat down on the sofa next to the bed and opened her omni-tool, which caught my eye and a flur of memories rushed to my head.

"Is that... is that the Nexus model?" I propped myself up and asked, looking to her. She seemed to be caught off-guard by the question and didn't answer for a short moment.

"Uuhh, no. It's actually the new Polaris one" she chuckled. "You know omni-tools?"

"I've been known to play with few every now and then" I smiled to her. "Why are you surprised?"

"Because you don't exactly come off as a tech nerd" she laughed and moved closer to me on the sofa.

"That so?" I laughed. "Then what do I come off as?"

"Well I dont know... maybe a teacher or a doctor?" She said. "That's what most good looking humans are" she said.

I raised my brows at the last part, slightly amused expression on my face. "Excuse me?" I asked, blood rushing to my cheeks, making me blush slightly.

"I mean not that you're good looking, I mean you are but... wow, it's really hot in here..." she struggled, which made me blush even more. _What is happening to me..._

An awkward silence fell, neither of us knowing how to come back from the last part. After some time Tali took something from her pocket and threw it to me.

"What's that?" I asked as it landed on my lap.

"It's an omni-strap you tool" she laughed. "Come on, try it!" She quirked and shot up.

"Okay okay" I laughed and clipped it on, the bright glow of the hologram soon flickering. But it wasn't orange, it was blue and purple, it looked so cool.

"Where did you get this thing?" I asked and looked up to her, genuinely impressed by the thing.

"It's my old one, Bluewire if I'm not mistaken" she said, taking my hand and doing something with the omni-tool. "It's yours now"

My eyes widened as I looked at her.

"Tali I can't take this, and I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be giving me it either..."

She looked at me for a moment, probably grinning under her helmet. "Then you better make sure no one finds out about this" she said mischievously.

"Unbelievable..." I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile. _I like her_

"C'mon, I'll show you few updates and upgrades I made" she said and hopped on the bed, taking my arm to her lap.

As she explained about the omni-tool, I found myself fixated on her fingers wrapped around mine or staring at her facemask, wondering what she looked like. As I listened to her babble on and on, I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Did he just fall asleep?_ Tali thought as she turned around, noting that her student had gone completely quiet. "Keelah..." she chuckled and let go of his hand, placing it on the bed.

She sat there for a moment, her thumb caressing the palm of his hand as she just watched the young human man. He couldn't have been much older than her, couple of years at most.

 _I wonder..._ she thought, but quickly shook her head. _No you idiot. He's a human... plus he'd never... could he?_

She shook her head at the stupid ideas going through her head and stood up and walked to the door, but turned around to glance the human one more time before leaving the room.

A funny feeling crept to her chest and head, making her cheeks burn and heart beat faster as she thought about the stranger holding her hand and his laugh... and his smile and his... everything.

 _What is happening to me..._

She felt it, the malevolence of the people looking at her as she walked through the halls. Well maybe not malevolence, but they did not approve of the support she gave to the human. She could only hope that her trust in the man wasn't misplaced, or she would also probably be exiled.

"Tali, its good you're here" Yeemi said as Tali walked into her office, looking up from her tablet. "The Admiralty board has made their decision, Neel'Corah can stay for now"

Tali felt her heart jump, joy filling her chest. "That's uhm... great news" she said, trying to hide her excitement. "What happens now?"

Yeemi quirked a brow under her mask, she was not doing a great job hiding joy. "He'll be taken care of till he's in full health, then he'll probably be assigned a duty or sent home" she said, placing the datapad on her desk. "Why are you so interested?"

"I uhm... no reason..." she said, clearing her throat, awkwardly moving her hands together.

"Uh-huh..." the doctor smiled under her mask. "I'm sure he's just as happy to hear the news, we should go tell him" she said, staring to get up.

"No no no!" Tali protested. "I mean... he's sleeping"

Yeemi looked at Tali for a moment. _Oh how transparent Y_ eemi mused to herself and sat back down. "Very well, we'll tell him when he wakes up"

 _Awh hell..._ I cursed as I opened my eyes, a migraine welcoming me as I woke up. I rubbed my temples and exhaled as I looked around the room; Tali had left. Couldn't really blame her, i did fall asleep after all.

Her absence made me feel... empty. I wished she had been with me when I woke up but...

Her show on my new omni-tool had been rather uninteresting. _The omni-tool!_ I thought, immediately snapping my hand up, checking my wrist. The strap was still there. I activated the thing, the blue and purple hologram coming to life.

I smiled to myself, apparently it was not a dream. I opened the contact list, not exactly knowing what I was expecting. I was happily surprised though, my heart jumping as I saw one name. **Tali** with a small heart at the end. I felt my cheeks burning and cleared my throat before sitting up completely and taking the bottle of water on the nightstand.

The door opened, a familiar figure standing in the doorway. "Good to see you're awake, we have news for you" Yeemi said as she walked in, her white coat flapping behind her. Tali walked in short after, my cheeks still burning. I did my best to avoid her gaze, and I think she noticed it.

"You can stay!" She quirked cheerfully, almost jumping up.

"Certainly a calm way to break the news..." Yeemi chuckled at Tali.

"Wait, really?" I asked, genuinely amazed, I didn't think the admirals would care about me enough to let me stay.

"Yes, and they even agreed to give you some freedoms. Provided that you work and make yourself useful for the fleet" Yeemi said and took a bunch of measures.

"They made me your handler, 'chaperone' if you will" Tali said, sounding pleased with herself. "So you're going to have to do what I say, when I say" she laughed mischievously.

"Oh great..." I furrowed my brows but smiled a bit.

"Tali is correct, you'll be working with her on various tasks. Once you're in full health of course" Yeemi spoke from her datapad.

"You should be full and able in a week's time, but if you want, I think we can already start your rehabilitation process for your leg"

I thought for a moment. I was going to need something to do, I couldn't take a week in this room.

"Sounds good"


	4. Chapter 4

"Its nothing fancy, just an exo spine for your leg. This is the heavy model, but it should allow you to move reasonably well" a doctor said, making last adjustments on his datapad. "Well have you upgraded for a lighter model every week until your leg is strong enough to work on its own" he continued before turning to Yeemi'Neram.

"I trust you'll make sure he doesn't over work the leg and see that he gets his upgrades?"

"Yes yes, absolutely" Yeemi answered. "Tali'Zorah will be accompanying and following him, helping him get the ropes of our lives. She'll surely inform me if anything is to be needed" she continued. "Thank you, doctor"

The man nodded to us all, and left the room. Yeemi took some readings before humming, pleased with the results. "Well go on, try it" she chuckled.

I stood up, stretching my legs. It was clunky and awkward, but definitely better than the sticks I had earlier.

Tali had difficulties holding her laughter as I clumsily and awkwardly walked back and forth in the room.

"You look like a handicapped chicken!" She finally bursted into an all out laugh.

"What do you even know about chickens..." I murmured, Yeemi joining her in laughter.

"Oh yeah, I'm so happy that my misfortune is so funny to both of you" I shot, trying to sound hurt but couldn't help to chuckle slightly.

"Oh, before I forget, we have something for you" Yeemi said and motioned me to put on my mask. "Come on"

"What is it?" I asked as I put on my mask and hurried after her, still limping awkwardly with my new leg assist.

"You don't think we'll have you walking around like that? No one wants to see that more than we have to" Yeemi laughed over her shoulder.

"I don't think he looks that bad..." Tali said but quickly cleared her throat after that.

Yeemi looked at her, and then me for a short moment before chuckling and shaking her head.

We walked through hallways, some Quarian children laughing and pointing at me and my funny walking. "Just where are you taking me?" I asked and did my best to keep up with the two women.

"The admirals decided that we can give you your old gear back. Not your weapons but your armor, and I'll activate your biotic amps if you want. Omni-tool is also with your stuff, but you already have that covered" she said, I could almost hear the smirking in her voice, Tali clearing her throat again.

We entered a room, which looked like a storage of sorts. Yeemi opened the door with what I think was the authorization from the admirals. She clicked a few buttons and the large, cylinder like contraption started to turn.

When it was done, Yeemi took out a crate and lifted it on the table, followed by two more crates. "Go on, open them" she said and stepped on the back wall with Tali.

I opened the crate, a piece of shoulder and arm armor greeting me. I took the midnight purple pieces out and laid them on the table, reaching and opening the next crate. As the lid came off, and my eyes landed on the N7 tag on the shoulder of the Serrice Council chestplate, a sharp pain shot through my brain.

"You want that N7 tag huh? Then get ready to earn it!" The major yelled, blowing out smoke from his cigar. The shuttle was rattling from the small arms fire coming from the ground.

"These bastards of slavers are here, on a human colony! Which means they're attacking humans! Now I don't care if they're Batarian or Turian or Krogan or Vorcha, we're going to kick their asses back to whatever shit hole their mother crawled out of, hooah?!"

" **HOOAH"** The shuttle echoed. Every one of us was already a long time special forces soldier, gone through all six stages of the training. I had been a fighter pilot before signing up to the Villa, that had been three years ago, but I hadn't seen real close combat before. My hands were shaking slightly and my throat was dry, this was it.

"Quincy, get your candy ass up and open that door!" The major yelled as the man next to the door jumped up. The shuttle landed and he pulled the door open. A shot pinged of the back wall, everyone ducking down as the man on the door collapsed down, groaning in pain and holding his arm.

"Aw shit. You there, Gunnery Chief, get out there right fucking now!" He said and pointed at me. The hair on my arm stood up, but I reached for my assault rifle and dove out of the door. My shields were pinging with the fire coming to our way but I managed to get out and hit the ground behind a small ridge. I primed a cluster grenade and threw it over the ridge, quickly following it up with a smoke.

More soldiers started to pour out of our shuttle, more ships landing behind ours. This wasn't a quick counter slaver operation, this was an all out war against them.

I rolled on my stomach, starting to send sharp, pointed bursts down the range. I wasn't really thinking, everything was on autopilot like we had been taught. _Trust your instincts and training, rest will follow_

And it sure did, soon our whole shuttle was out and team Titan was settled.

Commands and advice bounced down the line like poetry, everyone knew what they were doing.

That was, until the grenade rounds started landing over our heads, sending the whole unit into chaos. I felt the air around the squeeze and I was sent out flying, knocking myself out with my own rifle during the flight.

I staggered back and rubbed my temples again. "Holy shit..." I groaned and leaned on the table.

"What, what is it?" Yeemi was quickly next to me, Tali taking my hand.

"It's... it's nothing, just more flashbacks" I smiled as I gained my composure.

"What was it? What did you remember?" Tali asked and looked at the midnight purple armor on the table. "What's N7?"

I felt the memories start flooding into my head. Still nothing recent, but enough to pinpoint and understand what I just saw. "It's uh... it's an Alliance special operations program" I said, going back to my armor. "Apparently I made the cut..." I mumbled as I sat rest of the gear on the table. Hahne-Kedar greaves and the off-hand ammo pouch, N7 re-breather helmet and so on.

"We'll leave you to it, just knock on the door when you need help getting the exo leg on" Yeemi said and motioned Tali to leave the room with her. She nodded and looked at me for a moment. "I'll be fine, I'll be right behind you" I smiled.

It was a struggle, not going to lie. It took me a good five minutes to remember how the plating system and the undersuit systems worked, but soon enough I had gotten the armor on, the white details of the armor glaring in the rooms light.

"Well, here we are..." I mumbled and walked out.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone! Apologies for a long break in updates, school started and it has taken all of my time but with a holiday comiup, be sure to expect more updates. This was a quick pickup to my writing, interesting things coming to Tali and Wade/Neel'Corah soon! Thank you as always, and reviews are welcome!

The following two weeks I followed Tali around like a lost puppy, which to be fair I was, I would have never been able to navigate the Flotilla by myself. Every night I fell asleep I'd see snippets of my old memories, but most of them were just flashes from the ship I lived on, my parents voice and the small colony my grandparents lived on where I'd spend my holidays.

"I'll need you to boost me up for that terminal" Tali said, snapping her fingers. She had really taking a liking to the power position she had been given over my by the Admiralty board.

"Yeah yeah..." I mumbled, leaning my back against the wall so she could use my knee and shoulders as a stepping ladder. "Be quick would you"

"Don't you start telling me what to do, don't forget who's whose boss" she laughed and nudged my helmet with her knee.

"And don't you forget who's holding who up" I said, shaking her legs on purpose to scare her a bit.

"Neel'Corah!" She squeaked, stepping down and slapping the top of my helmet and face. "Bosh'tet" she chuckled and tried to knee me.

"Oh really?" I laughed before spinning her around and grabbing her waist, spinning us both in a circle for a few rounds. "How about now?"

"Let me down! Or else-" she giggled, trying to fight my grip and elbow my side. "Or else I'll make sure you'll be cleaning the waste disposal units!"

"Yeah right" I continued laughing, shaking her slightly. "You would have to be there doing the same thing, with me possibly being a spy and all." We both laughed, the fit slowly turning into giggling as I let her down. People had started to look our way, I'd guess this wasn't the most popular work ethic.

"Oh whatever..." She giggled, clearing her throat as she too noticed the attention we were getting. "Did you get the schematics for the inner turbine?" She asked, elbowing my side as a payback as we tried to move on with our work.

"Uhm... Yes, do I have to climb up there?" I asked in return, clearing my throat too and looking up into the vent.

"Of course not you tool" she said, poking my leg and the exo frame on it with the tip of her foot. "This thing isn't coming off for few more days, so I have to do all the hard work for now"

"Oh right, because lifting you up everywhere isn't hard work?" I shot back, although her Quarian frame wasn't really that heavy.

"Like you aren't enjoying it" she said and I could swear she was smirking under her helmet as she tilted her head to look at me. I felt my cheeks redden, and I was really happy for my helmet hiding it.

"Whatever..." I mumbled and shook my head, propping open the command console's panel and rolling under it.

"Come on, break time" I felt Tali poke my thigh after some time. I pulled myself out from my workspace which had gotten quite comfortable actually, seeing Tali looking down to me. "You hungry?"

"A bit" I shrugged, but chuckled after a moment. "All my food is on my ship though." As helpful as the Quarians had been to me, the fact that they had to bring in human food had made shipping a lot more complex for them and the easiest way to get it to me was to push it all into my ship.

I say ship but it wasn't even that. It was about the size of two or three Mako's, so nothing special but it had everything i needed. A shower, a bedroom and a small kitchenette area.

"We can call in the day, I'm sure no one would notice" she said mischievously and looked around before taking my hand and pulling me up. "Come on!" She giggled and pulled me along.

"But Tali-" I protested and looked around too. I didn't really want to do anything that would cause trouble for the fleet, but more importantly to myself.

"Shh" she shushed and led me through the ships.

"Where are we going?" I laughed after a moment, still being completely in her tow.

"I want to show you something" she said, in a tone that sparked up my interest. She led me to the part of the fleet where my miniature ship was. The door slid open into a depressurizing chamber, and as it hizzed to mark being done, I took off my helmet.

"I don't know if you noticed, but you showed me my ship" I said, turning to smile at her.

"Oh shut up" she laughed and gave me another shove with her elbow and looked around before sitting on the couch. "You know you should really clean up here"

"Why?" I laughed and scoffed, taking a bad of chips from the counter and throwing it at her. "Open that would you" I said, disappearing into the small up top space to get out of my armor. I got down few minutes later wearing a long sleeved tee and black pants before sitting down next to her. "Oh by the way-" I started before she cut me off.

"Your real name is Wade" Tali said, looking down to her hands.

I froze up, staring at her. A bunch of flashbacks came to my mind. Home, being yelled inside by my grandma for dinner and my school days. "Wh-where did you learn that from?"

"I... I found this from your armor when we found you" she said, opening her fist. She was holding a slightly bent dog tag. "Are you mad?"

I didn't really know, how could I be mad about that. Sure, she could have told me that earlier, but...

"No... No" I said after a moment, smiling warmly to her. She took my hand and schootched closer to me, opening the small tv on the wall.

"Good..." She said quietly and laid her head on my shoulder.

I stared at the screen, some movie about a Turian and a Quarian lovers. I just kept thinking about the info I had just learned. _Wade_

Tali wrapped her arm over my chest, and I placed mine on her thigh without really even thinking about it. As it registered, Tali looked to me, her hand sliding under my shirt. Our eyes locked, and without any sound she climbed on me.

"Tali-" I started, about to bring up the mask sized elephant in the room, but before I could finish my sentence her mask hissed and clipped off. She looked down to me, a small smile on her lips. My breath hitched for seeing her for the first time, she was gorgeous. Stray black hairs on her forehead, purple eyes and soft features.

"Shh..." She shushed and smiled before leaning down to kiss me. Feeling her lips on mine sent shivers down my spine, and my hands found their way to her hips, pulling her closer to me.

She broke the kiss, starting to peel off her suit, still looking down to me. "Tali-" I tried again before she placed her finger on my lips and shook her head. "Don't worry about it..." She whispered, kissing me again.

My hands traced up to her shoulder, starting to pull down her suit, the touch of my fingers on her skin making her shiver. "Please, don't stop..." She whispered, and that was all I needed.

I picked both of us up on the couch, carrying her to the bed and placing her down on it. She pulled off my shirt, wrapping her legs around my lower back as I moved to kiss her neck.

"Oh my god..." She sighed


End file.
